Click And Views 24 Image 1205 in Fall 2015 RTW

Designer Paula Gerbase has kept a matter-of-fact design approach to her label 1205 ever since she began in 2010, injecting London’s often-fussy fashion scene with a minimalist menswear bent gleaned from her time on Savile Row. Beneath the lush foliage of the Barbican Centre’s Conservatory building today, she paraded her fall 2015 collection to the sound of live drumming, a constant thudding that drummed home her repetitive exploration of elevated workwear and lounge shapes—the kind of unassuming garments that reframe femininity with an austere and refined “plainness.”

In her notes, Gerbase called it “a study of the language of adornment” and “the philosophy of decorative thinking,” two rather deep propositions that whispered quietly throughout her textures and treatments. Neither suggested direct embellishment, instead hinting at the complexity of the ribbed knits that became tiered, roll-neck tunics and pleated culottes, and textiles like checked wool or a crunchy, lightweight polyester that she cut into mannish Saharan-esque jackets and mackintosh coats.

The former cinched with a drawstring, creating an hourglass figure that returned with wide, high-waisted trousers, yet was lost elsewhere in the boyish proportions of a navy corduroy blazer and a gray felt boiler suit traced with utility details. Breaking the trailing symmetry of more monastic looks (a bibbed white shirtdress was positively pilgrim), dark gray bouclé added nubby warmth—closing the show with a series of lopsided mélange shift dresses, upon which circular brooches gathered a soft drape at the waist or shoulder.​

 Models walking the J.W.Anderson runway today wore metallic turtlenecks, tree-printed tunics, and knee-high boots in shades of primary yellow and red, but their most eye-catching accessories came in the form of the designer’s oversize mismatched earrings. The geometric triangles and hoops were emphasized by backstage pro Anthony Turner’s slick, finger-raked buns, which were pulled tightly off the face, twisted up quickly and finished with a slim black clip that left the ends of the hair loose. Paired with glowing skin and neutral makeup, the look conveyed an urban ease that promised to carry one of Anderson’s British cool girls from the gym to dinner in an instant. Just add statement earrings.

If the floral motifs and bare midriffs in Simone Rocha’s fall 2015 collection seemed like an act of winter defiance, the beauty look for the show was a full embrace. Makeup artist Sam Bryant provided each model with a healthy application of rosy MAC blush creating a windburned effect that could have just as easily been the result of walking in from the cold. Hairstylist James Pecis made the most of sweater-weather static, guiding textured, rumpled hair into low side ponytails that were topped with layers of oversize pearls. And, in the most unconventional stay-warm strategy we’ve seen on the runway yet, Pecis wound sections around the neck to create a makeshift scarf—perhaps the best argument we’ve seen for growing out your hair next season.